In Search of Self

Morning Dew #75

God, my Value-Maker

Y Falls, Jamaica. Photograph by Josephine

According to the United Nations Worldometer this world’s population on Sunday, March 10, 2024 is 8,096,044,209 and growing! Imagine, I am— you are one of 8 billion people! How insignificant that could make us feel. 

The combined volume of Earth’s oceans is about 352 quintillion gallons of water. In that vast body of water live Prochlorococcus a microbe that is so minuscule, over 20 thousand of them live in a single drop of water! But don’t let size fool you, we owe one out of every five breaths that we take to this minuscule oxygen-producing microbe!

If we awake today feeling that we are just one-in-billions and of no value, the above seeming trivia says otherwise. The Bible places value of the smallest. Jesus as He walked the earth cherished the simplicity of the child over the pomposity of the academicians, the farthing of the widow over the thousands of the rich, and the tiny mustard seed for its potential to be a valued tree. 

Our worth is not in our size but our willingness to care and to serve. As the song says, “if I can help somebody as I pass along then my living shall not be in vain.”

Dear Lord, help me to use my one-in-a-billion uniqueness to make someone smile today. Amen. 

Morning Dew #74

God, my Restorer

Morning Has Broken. Photograph by Josephine

Loneliness is on the rise. In this age of cellphones, Zoom, WhatsApp, FaceBook, rapid land, air, and sea travel, we are growing lonelier! Our world is a continuous masked-ball where we cope behind beautiful masks of prosperity, gaiety, and laughter hiding rejection, insecurity, and despair. 

Loneliness can also be the result of poor choices. Moses of the Bible, in uncontrolled rage killed a man and had to run, exchanging palatial comforts for the harshness of the desert. Hagar, Sarah’s lady-in-waiting, because of arrogance lost her privileges to wander pregnant, homeless, and desperate. 

Whatever the reason, loneliness has led many to do desperate things including self-harm and the harming of others. 

Both Moses and Hagar found out that although lonely, they were not alone. Moses at the burning bush, received renewed purpose and promise of protection from God. Hagar was revived and redirected in a place she gratefully named “The-God-Who-Lives-and-Sees-Me.”

The lives of Jacob, Joseph, Esther, Naomi tell us that God does see, hear, and come alongside in our moments of desperation. He calls us to look for Him and draw strength for life’s journey.

Dear Lord, May Your promises below build my faith and trust that You can satisfy my longing. Amen 


*Found Poetry from the the Old and New Testament –  Compiled by Josephine. Feb., 2024
*Found poetry is created by taking phrases from other sources (e.g., the Psalms) and organizing them to create a type of poem.

Morning Dew #73

God, my Recreator

Poem & Photograph by Josephine

It wasn’t that long ago that neuroscientists discovered that the brain can actually rebuild itself. Previously, it was thought that damage to the brain was irreversible. We now know that with mental exercises, the brain can create new paths to replace damaged ones. 

There is hope for those who wish to learn new approaches to life’s challenges, and new pathways to a positive self-image that says, “I am worthy of life, love, and friendship.” 

The Bible has long taught that we are changed by what we behold. A daily gaze at Christ— His life and love for us, can transform the way we live. 

Dear Lord, May the following collection of promises from the Psalms be a powerful reminder of who we can become through Christ. 


 – *Found Poetry from the Psalms –  Compiled by Josephine. February, 2024
*Found poetry is created by taking phrases from other sources (e.g., the Psalms) and organizing them to create a type of poem.

Morning Dew #72

God, my Purpose

“Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going.” Ecclesiastes 9: 10

This month we celebrate Black History, as well we should. We pause to reflect on, and celebrate the people on whose shoulders we stand to live the lives they could only dream of. From this vantage point, we can envision worlds and possibilities hitherto untraveled. As we carry the baton in this relay of life may we not forget our promise to our forefathers and our responsibility to our progeny to dream big!

Poem and Photograph by Josephine

Black History month is a time for looking back but equally important, we look forward knowing that if we live our lives just right, we will be the heroes on whose shoulders our descendants will stand to achieve at even higher heights, those goals we only dream of today. 

Dear Lord, may my life be a beacon leading others to believe in themselves while trusting in You. Amen

Morning Dew #71

God, my Strength

“Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let your hands not be idle, for you do not know which will succeed,  whether this or that,  or whether both will do equally well.” Ecclesiastes 11: 6

Morning Dew #70

God, my Deliverer

Moon in Trees. Photograph by Josephine

Abraham gazed at the clear desert night-sky, mesmerized by the velvety expanse shimmering with countless twinkling gems spread majestically across the blackness. He reflected on God’s promise— children like the stars! 

The hopelessness of the situation burdened him. He and Sarah had been unable to bear children but God promised him, he would be the father of nations. 

Abraham’s days were filled with distracting activity but his nights were haunted by doubts and desperation. Sarah had laughed— in truth they both had laughed. How could a man near a hundred and a woman ten years younger bear children? Interrupting his loneliness came the question, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” Genesis 18:14.

We have all been challenged by seemingly impossible situations— even for God. We may currently be dealing with feelings of pessimism or abandonment by God. Take heart! Abraham’s story proves that God sees and in His own time, He always comes through. He knows our needs and as Jehovah Jireh— the Provider, He will step in and do what is needed to right the situation.

Dear Lord, my options are exhausted. There seems no acceptable solution to my situation. Give me hope in Your loving faithfulness and Your impeccable timing.  Amen 

Morning Dew #69

God, my Hope

Morning has Broken, Jamaica. Photograph by Josephine

“I don’t want to hear it. Just leave me alone!” 

Sometimes we are so overwhelmed by life’s frustrations that we want to shut out the world, pull the covers over our heads, and hope that when we emerge, calm and sanity will prevail. 

Can we really believe in God and have moments like this? Israel, God’s chosen people, did! Discouraged by their circumstances, they blocked out God’s message:

“ Say to the Israelites: ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them . . . . I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. . . . I am the Lord.’” Moses reported this to the Israelites, but they did not listen to him because of their discouragement and harsh labor.” Exodus 6:6-9.

Today a typhoon of problems may be overwhelming us— Bills to pay, jobs to complete, arguments to resolve, apologies to make or accept, loneliness to overcome . . .  God says, “I am your God, I am able, and I love for you.”

Dear Lord, help me to hear your calming voice above the roar of life. Grant me peace as I trust in You even in my anxiety. Amen

Morning Dew #68

God, my Promise

The Rainbow after the Rain. Photograph by Josephine

“I hear what you are saying but I look at my hands and they are empty. I need proof!” 

There is a tension between reality and promise— Abraham heard God’s promise to bring from him a great nation. But his wife was barren and the prospects were poor since they both were past child-bearing years. So could they trust God?

For us today the tension is between knowing that there is a God and believing that He has an interest in our circumstance. When in crisis we wonder, “Am I delusional. Is there a God who actually impacts the specifics of my life? What of my stalled career, my dysfunctional home-life, my health issues, my imminent financial disaster. . . . Can God, and does God actually business Himself with my minutia or am I just hoping that the “coincidences” of my life are His doing? 

Faith is the only way to know God. Hebrew 11: 1– “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”  So this week, like Abraham, let’s earnestly put God to the test!

Dear Lord, here is my concern . . . . please take it and do for me what You see as best. Give me evidence that You care. Amen

Morning Dew #67

God, my Avenger

Thanksgiving and Caring, Pennsylvania.  Photograph by Josephine

Psalm 139  overflows with a poignant description of God’s tender brooding over each of us in the secret of our mother’s womb. Thoughtfully, He “knits” each frame, blueprinting a life that brings joy and glory to Him. Throughout our lives, His adoring gaze ardently follows us day and night. 

Suddenly, this beautiful, tender, love song is shattered by a strident, clamorous call in verses 19 – 23 for harsh vengeance and judgement to “slay the wicked”. A cruel, ugly interruption! 

Sin brings death. God’s law is unchangeable. Death is irrevocable. . . . But is it? 

The Psalmist places vengeance in the hands of God— the only One who can infallibly look into our hearts to deliver just reward. Our judge sees our sins and shrouds His vengeance with loving sacrifice. He provides a surrogate, a substitute! For the guilty—a Lamb! Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God— God incarnate, came to earth to satisfy vengeance by dying for us.

Thus— the exultant, fearless, joyous last two verses of the Psalmist’s unabashed and unafraid cries to God, “search me”! Look through and through! See my sins Lord, and do Your glorious, loving work of recreation in me!

Dear Lord, Thank You for loving me unconditionally. Help me to return to You my love in faithful submission. Amen

Morning Dew #66

God, my Architect

A Mosque in Abu Dhabi, U.A.E. Photograph by Josephine

Most people have an idea of what their dream-house would look like. My dream house would have a big bay-window looking out to the ocean, where the golden evening sun dips beneath the glassy horizon into a blazing pool of crimson. In the rear, there would be a spacious veranda where in the crisp dawn air, I watch the gently rising sun exchange velvet-black starlit skies for a silvery, gray-blue canvas.

God also has His idea of a dream-house— a dream temple to be exact, where He may visit daily and in loving acceptance, listen to the hopes, expectations, concerns, and anxieties of its dwellers. We are that temple! “do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?” 1 Corinthians 6:19

He also has big plans for each of us:  “For You formed my inward parts .  . . .  And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them.” Psalm 139:13, 16.

Dear Lord, I acknowledge that I am Your temple. Teach me how to enjoy daily communion with You, and may the activities that I enjoy each day be pleasing to You. Amen